The present invention relates to the field of firearms and specifically to firearm barrels. More particularly, the present invention is relates to the rifling and lining of a weapon's barrel. Although not limited thereto, the present invention is useful in the field of small arms (definition of a small arms are those carried by a single person) being able to fire many types of ammunition or cartridges.
Current firearms use ammunition or a cartridge of a particular size or caliber that has been specifically matched to a weapon and vice-a-versa. The weapon or firearm will have a specific barrel diameter, thickness and bore size for that caliber ammunition. The match between barrel and cartridge dimensions is made so the cartridge is seated correctly in the barrel allowing the bullet of the cartridge to safely exit the barrel when the cartridge's primer is detonated when the gun is fired. The barrel of the current invention can use various types of cartridges ranging from calibers of centerfire .22 to .45 or be capable of using .410 to 20 gauge shotgun shells from the same weapon.
Previously if a person with a specific weapon runs out of that particular caliber ammunition, then they cannot use that weapon anymore. The following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,709,136; 8,397,416 and 5,133,142 address using more than one caliber ammunition in a single weapon but they all had to either: change out the current barrel to a new barrel that could fire the new cartridge type or insert some type of sleeve/claw for the new round. U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,600 developed a multi-caliber bolt, but does not disclose a barrel capable of using multi-caliber ammunition.
There have been scenarios throughout recent armed conflict history whereby lives are lost and battles turned due to insufficient gunfire due to lack of a specific ammunition caliber while usable (live) ammunition of a different caliber was still available on the battlefield. The present invention will keep the combatant in the fight. Besides military applications, applications of this weapon can be used for law enforcement and first responders.
Additionally, there are over 800 million weapons in the world today, each using a specific type of cartridge. Therefore, there exists a need for a novel firearm that will be able to use standard revolver type cartridges, including ammunition of centerfire .22 to .45 calibers. There also exists a need for a firearm to be able to utilize larger cartridges used in rifles, including 5.56 mm (standard NATO round) to 7.62 mm, and even gauges of 20 to 12 gauge.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a novel barrel construction capable of using a plurality of different cartridge types and calibers without changing the barrel or inserting a specialized sleeve, insert, or claw.